The present application is related generally to vehicle service systems and onboard vehicle safety and monitoring systems configured to observe an environment surrounding a vehicle, and in particular, to a vehicle wheel alignment system configured to provide an operator with an indication of a need to calibrate or align one or more sensors associated with the vehicle onboard safety and monitoring systems following an adjustment to a vehicle alignment component which results in a change exceeding a tolerance to at least one vehicle alignment angle.
Vehicle onboard sensor systems which are configured to observe the external environment surrounding a moving vehicle are rapidly becoming commonplace on new vehicles entering the market. These include numerous safety systems, such as forward-looking collision avoidance systems, lane departure warning systems, pedestrian avoidance systems, cross-traffic warning systems, and blind spot monitoring systems. Additional systems are associated with autonomous or semi-autonomous driving of the vehicle, such as adaptive cruise control or autopilot systems. Each of these systems, illustrated generally in FIG. 1, operates by observing or receiving data from one or more fields of view external to the vehicle, and is configured to react to objects observed or detected within those fields of view, such as the presence (or absence) of nearby vehicles, pedestrians, lane markings, curbs, street signs, etc. The various onboard sensor systems may operate in different regions of the electro-magnetic spectrum, using visible light, infrared light, LIDAR, or radar to generate images or acquire data such as range measurements.
As the autonomy of vehicles increases, accuracy of input to a primary vehicle sensor control system, or multi-domain controller, from multiple onboard sensor systems monitoring the vehicle's external environment becomes more important. In turn, it becomes critical for the primary vehicle sensor control system to successfully combine together tracking information from multiple sensor for various observed objects or features in order to provide meaningful tracking data for the objects or features in the environment around the vehicle. By further combining the tracking information with mapping and navigation data, the primary vehicle sensor control system can make or confirm decisions on vehicle movements or interactions with the surrounding environment. Combining the tracking information from multiple sensors further enables the primary vehicle sensor control system to maintain functionality in the event one or more of the onboard sensor systems becomes inoperable or impaired, such as due to snow or rain obscuring a field of view. However, it is necessary to ensure that input provided to the primary vehicle sensor control system from each onboard sensor is combined within a common spatial frame of reference and based on a common temporal reference, enabling the primary vehicle sensor control system to establish a comprehensive determination for the positions and movements of the observed objects relative to the vehicle's direction of travel.
The process of combining data within the primary vehicle sensor control system begins with receipt of the information from each vehicle onboard sensor. The primary vehicle sensor control system next determines when two or more sensors are observing the same object, and integrates the associated information into a common or fused track for the object in a common spatial and temporal reference frame associated with a body center point or centerline of the vehicle. Integrating the input from multiple onboard vehicle sensors into fused tracks for objects within a common spatial reference frame provides the primary vehicle sensor control system with a unified environment in which to detect potential hazards, collisions, or other threats to the vehicle.
Some vehicle onboard sensors (and/or primary vehicle control systems) incorporate self-learning or self-calibration features which enable them to accommodate small changes in the tracking of the vehicle in motion, relative to the vehicle body centerline, which occur gradually over time during vehicle operation. However, when a vehicle undergoes a wheel alignment service procedure, changes in one or more alignment angles made during the service procedure may alter the tracking of the vehicle by an amount which is greater than, or more sudden than, that which can be automatically corrected for or compensated for by the self-learning or self-calibration features of the vehicle onboard sensors or primary vehicle sensor control system.
In response, vehicle manufacturers will often require a complete recalibration or realignment of the vehicle onboard sensors and primary vehicle sensor control system following any changes to the vehicle wheel alignment characteristics. The procedures required for recalibration or realignment of the vehicle onboard sensors and/or primary vehicle sensor control system can be time consuming, space intensive, and may require one or more vehicle test drives.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a vehicle service system, such as a vehicle wheel alignment system, with a procedure to generate a suitable warning or indication when changes in one or more alignment angles made during the service procedure alter a vehicle characteristic, such as tracking, by an amount which is greater than that which can be automatically corrected for, or compensated for, by the self-learning or self-calibration features of the vehicle onboard sensors or primary vehicle sensor control system, enabling an operator to avoid the need to carry out recalibration or realignment of the vehicle onboard sensors and/or primary vehicle sensor control system following adjustments to vehicle wheel alignment characteristics which will not impact the performance of these systems.